India to ship Covid-19 vaccines to neighbours free of cost

In a noble gesture, India has decided to export COVID-19 vaccines free of cost to its neighbouring countries except Pakistan. The neighbouring countries will get the vaccine doses as per their requirement and least developed countries will get it for free.

New Delhi:The central government on Monday decided to export Covid-19 vaccines free of cost to the neighbouring countries Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal as a 'goodwill' gesture. Pakistan has not been included as a recipient of India's Covid-19 vaccine.

"There was no formal request from Pakistan for the vaccine," said a senior government official to ETV Bharat on condition of anonymity.

In a meeting with the representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizer, Union Health Ministry discussed various aspects of vaccine export issue. Representatives from Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India (SII) were also present in the meeting.

Sources said that COVAXIN will be sent to Mongolia, Oman, Myanmar, Bahrain, Philippines, Maldives and Mauritius and Covishield will be exported to Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Seychelles. However, an official confirmation on this is still awaited.

"The decision was taken after ensuring the availability of the vaccine for domestic use. The export of vaccines will be done so that the countries in need can meet their initial requirements," the official said, adding that India has enough doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

The countries will get the vaccines as per their cited requirements. Officials said that the first consignment of exports to the least developed countries will be done free of cost and subsequently exports will be made on a commercial basis.

Leaders from neighbouring countries have congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the successful launch of the vaccination drive against COVID-19 on January 16.

Earlier, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has said that there was no ban on the export of Covid-19 vaccines. India had earlier exported Hydroxy-chloroquine to several countries.